


baggy clothes and a pretty face

by orphan_account



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Harry is a ballerina, Liam is a skater boy, M/M, Slash, That is all, sad lack of Louis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-27
Updated: 2013-03-27
Packaged: 2017-12-06 17:20:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/738174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Based on this (http://badjujuboo.livejournal.com/438705.html?thread=2501553#t2501553) prompt at the GREAT LIRRY FICATHON.<br/>Basically a ballerina!Harry and skater boy!Liam AU, though there's less emphasis on Liam's skater boy-ness but it's still there kinda. </p><p>Some swearing, and boy kissing.<br/>---</p><p>"So, who's that guy with the hair?" Liam tried to ask casually, but knowing he failed when Niall raised an eyebrow and cracked a smile.</p>
            </blockquote>





	baggy clothes and a pretty face

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Lirry, so I hope I've done the pairing and the prompt justice! Unbeta'd, and I do not own the boys, etc. etc.
> 
> Title is taken from Avril Lavigne's song Sk8ter Boi because what did you expect, and also this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4vI0eVohNM) is Harry's solo performance or what I was referencing anyway. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Liam Payne is not, a punk-ass kid, thank you very much. He can understand how strangers on the street would assume he was, discreetly trying to herd their children farther over the sidewalk when he comes past. His clothes only look scruffy because that's all his mother will let him skateboard in, and the big headphones he wears are blasting the same kind of tune an embarrassing dad would be belting out as he drops his kids off at school.

And yes maybe he does have a few tattoos, but his parents believe in letting him 'express' himself, and his best friend interns at tattoo parlour for goodness sake what do you expect?

His best friend, Zayn, has much more of a bad-boy vibe though he actually does have some form of street cred to maintain. Luckily, Zayn prefers the ramps at the abandoned skate park near Liam's house rather than the one in the middle of town which has crews and all kinds of rough housing that Liam's parents certainly wouldn't approve of.

And on a slightly overcast autumn day, that is exactly where Liam is headed. He's rolling slowly along the sidewalk on his skateboard, carefully curving around tree roots when a loud yelp causes his head to snap up, giving him just enough time to swerve as a pale blur flew past him, yelling out a garble in their wake that sounded something like, "sorry!"

Whipping around and pulling his headphones down from his head so they rested around his neck, Liam was quick enough to get a look at whoever had just shoved past him and was racing around the corner. Whoever it was was slim, head covered with curly brown hair, and carrying a large tote bearing a combination of colour and logo that Liam was rather familiar with.

Making a split-second decision, Liam pulled out his phone and turned his skateboard back the way he had come, firing off a quick text to let Zayn know he wouldn't be meeting him, and heading the same way the intriguing boy had gone.

Turning the corner and riding a bit farther up the street, Liam came to a stop, tucking his skateboard under his arms and pushing open the double doors which bore the writing, 'Cowell's Academy of Dance'.

Nodding to the girl behind the reception desk, Liam headed down one of the hallways, slipping into the second room on the left.

"Liam!" A call came from the corner of the large studio, where an old piano and a young boy sat.

Liam smiled, scouring the room as he made his way over to the blonde sitting on the piano stool, taking note of the boy from earlier stretching in the corner. The blonde beamed when Liam slid to the floor by the foot of the piano, ruffling the cropped hair on top of Liam's head and cracking his knuckles. Niall had been one of Liam's friends since his parents moved to the area when Liam was just a toddler. The boys had been enrolled for ballroom dancing classes at the Academy when they were in their younger teens by their parents, but Liam's passion for music and sport overwhelmed any interest in dance, and Niall was so distracted by the ballet classes across the hall his parents eventually let him swap, the same time Liam dropped out.

Niall kept up with ballet classes until about a year ago, when he tore a tendon during a druken dare (he told his parents it had happened when he tried to do some extra practice without stretching) and while recovering found he was more partial to playing the accompanying music for the dance than actually performing that aspect of it all himself.

"So, who's that guy with the hair?" Liam tried to ask casually, but knowing he failed when Niall raised an eyebrow and cracked a smile.

"You sure know how to pick 'em Payne. That's Harry, he moved here from some crazy elite ballet academy, only been here a week and they already want him in the male lead for annual performance. You can see why though, he's brilliant."

Liam just hummed in response, watching as the group of boys and girls lined up by the bar, trying not to single Harry out but failing every time. As they began to practice their floor work it was easier to watch each individual, though Liam couldn't honestly say he didn't take a bit more interest when it was Harry's turn.

He had to bite back a gasp of awe when Harry bound across the floor effortlessly, his miniature routine more technically difficult than the others, but flawlessly executed minus the tiny stumble at the end of his last pirouette, which he charmingly grinned away to the admiring applause of the rest of the group.

"Brilliant isn't he," Niall said, gathering up his sheet music as the group dispersed.

"Yeah, brilliant," Liam said, turning briefly to actually look at Niall as he stood up. Turning with the blonde to leave, Liam nearly trod on the toes of Harry, who had appeared just in front of him.

"Um hi," Harry said, showing dimples as he grinned sheepishly.

"Er, did you know that the reason you have dimples is because the skin just there has stuck to the muscle?" Liam stuttered out, blushing when Niall barked out a laugh behind him.

It only made Harry smile bigger, "Really? I had no idea. Anyway, I just wanted to say I'm sorry for running you over earlier, just glad you were heading here too so I could actually see you again to apologize."

"Yeah," Niall piped up, shooting Liam a cheeky smirk, "Liam was just heading here to see me home, the perfect gentleman really."

"I thought gentlemen knew how to dress," Harry said, looking Liam up and down, the smile gone from his face but still hovering in his eyes.

Liam just sneezed.

"Well maybe I'll see you around then. Bye Niall," Harry said, looking over Liam's shoulder to acknowledge Niall with a friendly nod before adjusting his tote bag and walking out of the studio.

"Come on mate, my mum'll be thrilled to see you," Niall said, clapping Liam on the back and guiding him out the door.

***

Liam had to at least pretend he was the littlest bit upset when Zayn told him he would have to cancel on their plans. He had only been back to the Academy once since he'd met Harry's acquaintance, and if he had retained the knowledge the boy mentioned he always got hungry during rehearsal and happened to turn up with some snacks that day, then it was just his natural perceptiveness and nothing more.

"Oooh, food!" Niall exclaimed when Liam dragged a seat up next to the piano, the rehearsal already a good 20 minutes in and Liam was so busy swatting Niall's grabby hands away from the food that he didn't notice the group stopped for a break and Harry had made his way over.

"What've you got there Payne?" 

Liam froze, turning to look up at Harry, before everything engaged again and he held up the bag he had come with. 

"Er, I brought food for Niall but um, over-estimated how much he can actually eat?" Liam said weakly, kicking Niall's feet under the piano when the blonde opened his mouth to say something in protest. 

"Don't know if I should touch it, goodness knows where it's been considering where you ruffians hang out," Harry said, holding back a smile as he crinkled his nose and eyed the skateboard Liam had tucked under his chair, "But I am awfully hungry."

Harry tentatively reached into the bag, taking out a granola bar and taking a bite, chewing thoughtfully before quickly finishing the rest and stretching as he stood back up, giving Liam a look he couldn't decipher before turning away and heading back towards the center of the studio.

Liam groaned quietly and dropped the bag, causing Niall to snatch it up and offer Liam a look that he could read, a mix of pity and amusement. 

Grumbling, Liam grabbed his skateboard and saluted Niall a goodbye, throwing a fleeting glance at Harry's supple, leaping form before heading back home. 

***

Two days later Liam was back again. Harry was rehearsing his solo section, getting more and more frustrated as he stumbled on each landing, until finally the boy snapped, yanking off the ballet slippers he was wearing and hurling them against the wall, shocking everyone in the studio into silence, before storming out of the door and slamming it behind him.

The silence that followed was brief, with Niall finally breaking it with a few chords, causing the instructor to call out a few short directions to get the group practicing a different section of the piece.

"Why's everyone so calm about this?" Liam asked, watching Niall's fingers fly over the piano. 

"Ballerinas are temperamental mate, this happens every few rehearsals," Niall shrugged, offering Liam a 'what can you do?' expression before looking back down at the keys.

"Well I'm going to do something," Liam said as he stood up, missing Niall's warning of 'I wouldn't if I were you mate!' as he headed out of the door. He only had to look down two corridors before he found Harry sitting curled up with his back to the wall in one of them.

"What do you want Payne?" Harry snapped as Liam crouched down so they were at the same level.

"You're really good Harry, don't give up now," Liam said softly, trying to get Harry to look at him.

"If I was good enough I wouldn't fuck it up every time, so you're wrong there," Harry said, pointedly glaring at the floor. 

"If you weren't good enough you wouldn't be dancing that routine," Liam said again, edging the tiniest bit closer. The proximity caused Harry to look up, his eyes meeting Liam's for a fleeting second before his face crumpled and his shout caused Liam to jump back.

"What the fuck do you know about anything Payne? You ride around on your punk-ass skateboard without any worries, you don't have parents and peers pressuring you and relying on you! You can piss about as much as you like and look like you should be some good-for-nothing but confusingly be an absolute idiot and turn up with food and actually be lovely but there's no way you can actually understand, so stop pretending like you do and FUCK, OFF."

Liam stood up then, looking like he was about to turn and leave right away, but he paused and started fishing in his pocket. He pulled out a granola bar, and placed it on the floor next to Harry.

"In case you get hungry during the rest of rehearsal," he said quietly, before turning and walking straight out of the door and down the street.

Harry groaned, tugging his curls and hitting his head against the wall, staring up at the ceiling and trying to stop his body from shaking.

***

Liam managed to avoid the Academy for quite awhile, spending a lot more time out skating with Zayn or alone in his room. Harry's outburst had shocked him. He knew that there wasn't anything outstandingly special brewing between them, but he had more proof that he wasn't the only one who felt something more than just a casual acquaintanceship between himself and the ballerina. 

The more he thought about it, the worse he felt until he convinced Zayn that they should try out the more popular skate park in the center of town, that they usually gave a wide berth.

Zayn had questioned the motion suspiciously, but consented when it looked like Liam was pretty determined. His mother had always said that his stubborn ways would be his downfall, and in her mother-knows-best ways was right, the trip resulting in a black eye for Liam and a few bruises for Zayn who tried to back him up when another guy tried to pick a fight and Liam hadn't been in the mood to back away. 

Which is how he found himself nursing a black eye and skateboarding home after accompanying Zayn back to his own house, and how he finally came back in contact with Harry, who was standing outside the Academy doors looking rather forlorn.

He at least had the decency to blush when Liam stopped next to him, looking down at the ground when he spoke.

"Hi."

"Hey."

At Liam's response Harry looked up, eyes widening as he took in the bruising on Liam's face.

"What happened?" 

"Got in a bit of a fight at the skate park, it's not a big deal."

Harry barked out a short laugh, "It looks like a pretty big deal. You don't have to keep up a tough guy persona just because a skateboard is your preferred mode of transport you know."

"I'm not."

"Not what?" Harry said, looking confused.

"Keeping up a persona."

"Oh," Harry said, looking back down at the ground, nervously tugging the straps of his tote.

"What are you waiting out here for?"

Harry looked back up again, "Practice ended early and my phone died so I can't let my parents know to come and pick me up."

"Why'd it end early?"

"I finally nailed that routine."

"I told you that you could."

"Yeah, yeah you did."

It was Liam who broke the silence, sighing and gesturing with his head.

"You can come back to my house and use my phone, it's not far."

"Really? You live around here?" Harry said, shock creeping into his voice as he followed Liam's lead and started walking. 

"Yeah, 5 minutes away. What, you didn't think a punk-ass boy looking boy would live in such a nice area?" Liam said, the tone of his voice turning to sound more like teasing.

"Something like that," Harry murmured, a smile growing on his face as well.

The walk was pretty much silent, neither of them saying anything until Harry had used the Payne's house phone to call his parents.

"They'll be here in a few minutes," he confirmed, ending the call and handing the phone back to Liam.

"Okay."

They waited by the door, Liam looking out of the window and Harry's eyes roaming around him, looking at Liam's profile every so often before flickering his eyes to look elsewhere.

A car pulled up outside and honked once, stirring both of the boys out of their thoughts.

"That's my dad. Um, thanks, really."

"No problem."

The two boys shifted awkwardly, until Harry spoke again.

"Are you coming to watch the final performance?"

"Not sure, might come support Niall yeah."

"Oh right. Well, yeah, you should come. It should be good."

"I don't doubt it."

"Right. Well, bye, thanks again."

Liam just nodded and Harry headed out of the door, jumping in the front seat of the chair, looking back fleetingly only to see the door to the house was already shut.

***

"Liam, you made it!" Niall cheered, grabbing Liam's hand and pulling him further backstage. The dancers were everywhere, rushing around to complete final costume and hair preparations, and stage hands walked around talking quickly into their headsets. The quiet adrenaline was intoxicating, and Liam almost missed Niall squeezing his hand before going to take his seat at the piano. 

Liam scoured the backstage area, and his eyes met green ones a few meters away. Harry nodded tentatively, and Liam offered a crooked smile, before leaving to go take his seat in the front of the house.

The performance went flawlessly. The dancers were on top form that evening, the passion for their craft radiating from every move they did, from the smallest step to the graceful leaps and pirouettes. Niall was smiling the whole time from the piano, and Liam's breath caught in his throat as Harry performed his solo.

The sections where he had known to expect stumbles and muttered curses had been eradicated and Harry's fluidity was spellbinding, and the feeling lasted with Liam until the curtains flew closed at the end. Muttering apologies, he scooted out of the row he was sitting in and hastily made his way backstage, offering quick and breathless congratulations to the performers he knew.

Harry was still standing in the wings, face solemn but eyes alive reliving the performance over again in his head. His head snapped to the side as Liam came into view, his face giving away nothing.

"Really great performance out there."

"Thanks, Liam," Harry said, knowing both he and Liam himself noted that was the first time he had addressed Liam by his first name.

The silence only grew, twisting and changing into something more until Harry finally broke it, stepping forward until he was right in front of the other boy.

"I've been really, really ridiculous," he said letting out a short laugh, but before Liam could say anything, Harry leaned forward so their lips were millimeters apart.

Liam stopped breathing, everything suspended in that moment until he let out the tiniest huff of breath and Harry closed the gap, pressing his lips against Liam's with all of the pent up high from his performance and everything else he didn't know how to express.

Liam sighed again, this time in blissful content before leaning further into the kiss, reaching up to grasp Harry's face with his hands causing Harry to emit a small noise.

And when they finally pulled apart, all of Harry's joy was finally expressed through a huge grin, before he laughed again, shaking his head and causing Liam to let out a giggle.

"I had no idea punk-ass skater boys had such an interest in ballet," Harry grinned.

"Neither did I."


End file.
